Turkey fired at the Syrian troops in Aleppo

1 Syria

The Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that the Turkish artillery and the Syrian opposition militants that fight on the Turkish side fired on the settlements located to the north of Aleppo. The shelling was done from the border region of Aazaz, which is a part of the security zone created by the Turkish troops in north of Syria back in 2017, after the military operation «Shield of the Euphrates» directed against the Kurdish «Self-Defense Forces». It was underlined that the Syrian military did not return fire to the Turkish positions.

2 Syria

The »SANA» reports that the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the international community to lift all sanctions on Damascus because of the spread of corona-virus in all neighboring states. «The continuation of the one-sided sanctions of the US and the EU in such situation is a blatant violation of the human rights. It goes against the elementary norms and principles» — the Syrian Foreign Ministry explained. Damascus expressed solidarity with the other countries that are fighting the disease. Syria demands to «immediate lift the sanctions without any conditions, and end the blockade». “With their sanctions, the US impede the efforts to counter the pandemic that threatens all of humanity. They deprive others of an opportunity to receive the necessary assistance” — the Syrian Foreign Ministry stated.

3. Russia

On Thursday, the Russian government officially announced that due to the spread of the new corona-virus in Russia — the restrictive measures will take place for a while. If necessary, these measures will be enhanced. The Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated that from Friday, 20th of March, for a whole month, the restrictions on the supply of the essential goods, including the customs, will be lifted. The ‘Green Corridor’ is being introduced for the supply of a number of goods. Including medicines and medical devices. Starting from Friday, the Russian ministries will begin monitoring the food and drug prices in the country. Earlier, Vladimir Putin urged to not believe in rumors about the scale of the spread of the new corona-virus in Russia. The information, provided by the state, is objective.

4. Japan

The Japanese news agency «Kyodo» reported that the doctors working in Wuhan, which is the epicenter of the spread of the new corona-virus in China, released quarantined people with symptoms in order to improve the statistics and create the appearance of a stable situation specifically for the visit of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping. »Kyodo» refers to the information received from the medics, currently working in Wuhan. There is no official confirmation of this information, and comments from the Chinese authorities so far.

5 Russia

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, had a telephone conversation with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi — the Chinese Foreign Ministry reports. During the conversation, Wang Yi stated that China is ready to organize the delivery of emergency medicines to Russia to combat the new corona-virus. «In our gratitude for the support from Russia — we are ready to actively provide an assistance in the form of a delivery of goods that your country urgently needs» — the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Wang Yi. He underlined that Beijing is interested in an enhancement of the cooperation with Moscow in order to combat the new corona-virus, since such task requires the combined efforts of the international community.

6 Iraq

The Iraqi TV channel »As-Sumariya» reports that the US military, stationed in Iraq, have officially handed over the ‘al-Qaim’ base, which was used by the troops of the international anti-terrorist coalition, to the Iraqi army, on Thursday. The ‘Al-Sumariya’ TV notes that the Iraqi military have formally began to arrive several days ago, after the complete withdrawal of the international coalition forces. On 17th of March the press service of the Central Command of the US Armed Forces announced that the US-led coalition, made to fight the ISIS terrorist group, would soon leave the base Al-Qaim located in Iraq. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.